There is a place that I adore
It lies to the north off a northern shore
Surrounded by a rolling sea
That beckons through my dreams to me
Oh Rathlin! I miss your rugged scene
‘Tis many years since I have been
Upon the land where I was born
To welcome the arrival of the morn
I left you as an orphan boy
As famine all life did destroy
With grip of steel I held the oar
As tears welled up within my core
Moving away in that open boat
I felt the sadness in my throat
Pulling the oar, less time to think
And then you were gone in just a blink
As rain and mist rolled across the sea
Putting a blind between you and me
I was lost and devoid of hope
With not a thought how I would cope
At first, I wanted to return
Fear drive me on and you to spurn
I remained with our lowly band
And we sailed to a far-off land
Where I grew up, strong as a tree
On the other side of the Atlantic Sea
It was my role to succeed and proper
But it is my boyhood that I foster
And to my children I relate
Those bygone days and our fate
It is to Rathlin Isle I yearn
To stand beside my Mother’s cairn
Monty Alexander 2.2.95